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Nodding, Harlow walked into the small bedroom, shut the door behind her, and climbed into the bed. It was nowhere near as comfy as her bed at home, but it would do. Harlow plugged her phones into the charger by the bed and set an alarm for the next morning. She needed to check out the venue and make sure everything was ready for the show later that night.
Yawning, Harlow curled up under her blanket. She had just gotten the pillow in a perfect position when the loudest noise Harlow has ever heard reverberated throughout the bus. Harlow jumped out of bed, yanking open the bedroom door to find Riley standing in front of the pullout bed.
Or, well. What used to be the pullout bed.
Riley stood with a piece of it in her hand while the rest lay scattered at her feet. She looked stunned, as if she’d just walked into the scene herself. Harlow crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to figure out what on earth happened.
“You really do have to make an entrance, don’t you?”
“I honestly don’t know what happened,” Riley slowly started to laugh as she covered her face with her hand. “I pulled it and then it all came apart. I must have done something wrong.”
Walking over to Riley, Harlow examined the mess before her. From what she could tell, the bed wasn’t appropriately assembled and lacked screws to hold it together. Which, Harlow had to admit, was on par for the other refurbished buses she’d been in over the years.
“Do you think we can fix it?”
“I mean,” Harlow chuckled, “we could try, but I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Me either.”
Dropping the piece she’d been holding in her hand, Riley started to pick up the parts that had fallen apart in front of her. But Harlow could tell it was going to be a futile effort. She didn’t know what she was doing either.
“I guess I can just pull the mattress out and sleep on the floor.”
It was clear that Riley didn’t want to do that, but what other choice did they have?
Oh, well, I guess I could offer my bed.
Harlow mulled over that option in her head. The bed wasn’t that comfy, but it would be better than the floor, that was for sure. But Harlow also felt terrible for making Riley sleep on the floor. Especially on their first night on tour. She needed a good night’s sleep, just like Harlow did. And besides, Riley looked like she was on the edge of tears. There was no way Harlow was going to let this ruin Riley’s first night on tour.
“The bed in the bedroom is big enough for both of us.” Harlow shrugged. “We can share until we can get this,” she motioned toward the broken pull-out bed, “fixed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Turning back to the bedroom, Harlow took a step before pausing. She grinned back at Riley. “Just don’t break this one too, okay?”
Riley blushed, lowering her eyes from Harlow’s as she softly laughed. “I won’t.”
Without commentary, they each took a side of the bed and claimed it as their own. The sheet was all there was in the bed aside from a thick comforter, so Harlow offered Riley some of her blanket. It was stretched to its limits as Riley and Harlow stayed planted on each edge of the bed. There was plenty of open space between them, but neither of them seemed to want to cross it.
That was just fine with Harlow. She never did like sharing the bed. And with any luck, they’d only be doing this for one night. Harlow could handle that.
Even if she did find herself enjoying the way Riley’s peach lotion smelled as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 6
Riley
Never in her life had Riley been more in tune with every inch of her body. She was determined not to cross the hypothetical line in the bed between her and Harlow. It was the last place Riley expected to be. Riley still had no idea what happened to the pullout bed. One minute everything was fine and the next it was broken. There was no wrong way to pull it out, or so Riley had thought, but apparently she did something wrong.
Sighing, Riley pulled the sheet tighter around her shoulders. Harlow had graciously shared her blanket with her, but Riley typically ran hot at night. Of course, that didn’t mean she refused Harlow’s fuzzy offering. Instead, Riley had been sweating under it for the last few hours. At least it had felt like hours. Riley tried not to look at her phone, unsure if the light would wake Harlow.
But even if she weren’t mere inches from Harlow, Riley doubted she’d have slept anyway. Her excitement over the pending tour was too much to contain. It wasn’t every day that a band’s biggest fan got to join them on tour. Riley was keenly aware of how lucky she was, and wanted to enjoy every single moment on tour.
Even the awkwardness of sharing a bed with someone she didn’t know.
Sure, Harlow was friendly and Riley kind of knew her. But she didn’t know her know her. They were work colleagues; acquaintances at best. Riley couldn’t name a single fact about Harlow other than she apparently didn’t like to drink soda at night. That wasn’t something Riley could relate to. She had an unhealthy addiction to Diet Coke.
Harlow stirred beside her, and Riley held her breath. Under the sheet, Riley felt Harlow’s knee press up against her calf. It was the only contact the two had made all night, and Riley wondered if Harlow did it on purpose. The light snoring told her that, no, Harlow didn’t know what was going on. She was probably like Riley and used to sleeping alone. Riley was so used to it that she couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t slept in the middle of a bed.
